Herb Wood strums his autoharp while playing with members of the Big Country Autoharp and Dulcimer Club Tuesday at Central Baptist Church.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News
Carlene Wood, right, and her husband Herb Wood play with the acoustical music group at Central Baptist Church Tuesday after the Big Country Autoharp and Dulcimer Club meeting.

Carolyn Gilbert, from Gorman, strums her dulcimer while playing with other members of the Big Country Autoharp and Dulcimer Club Tuesday at Central Baptist Church in Abilene.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News

Members of the Big Country Autoharp and Dulcimer Club jam together during the group’s monthly meeting at Central Baptist Church on Tuesday.

Thomas Metthe/Reporter-News

When Carlene Wood started the Big Country Autoharp and Dulcimer Club in November with the help of her friend Carolyn Gilbert they had bigger ideas than just a monthly jam session.

Wood, who started playing the autoharp after she found one at a flea market, took it to a festival in Glen Rose to learn how to play it. Not long after that she fell in love with the instrument's sound.

Now, Wood finds herself traveling all over the country, sometimes as far away as Salem, Ore., going to music festivals to hone her skills and play with other autoharpists and dulcimer players.

That's how she met Gilbert, who lives in Gorman. The two decided the Big Country was in need of a club to play music together,

"There wasn't anything in this area," says Wood, "And we'd like to draw in more people from this area and farther west."

So far, the fledgling club has had a good turnout with members coming from as far away as Vernon to jam with the group. Wood says has received inquiries from people who plan to attend after the holiday season.

Gilbert, who plays the dulcimer, says her instrument is fairly easy to learn, not to mention all of the experienced players willing to help the novices hone their skills.

"When you walk in as a beginner people just line up to help you out," says Gilbert.

She says she tries to go to at least one dulcimer festival a month and hopes that their group can draw enough interest that in the future the pair can bring an autoharp and dulcimer festival to the Big Country.

Gilbert laughs about her obsession with the music claiming that's what she prefers to spend her money on.

"I don't want a designer purse, I want a new dulcimer," says Gilbert with a laugh.